


Jet Set Run

by FandomLastsForever



Series: Nuts & Dolts Week [2]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Awkward Crush, F/F, Inspired by Music, Love Confessions, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Sports
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-31
Updated: 2017-10-31
Packaged: 2019-01-27 03:50:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,854
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12573092
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FandomLastsForever/pseuds/FandomLastsForever
Summary: Ruby has had feelings for Penny for a long time, but could never find the courage nor the right moment to ask her out. But when a fellow classmate has his sights set on the same girl, she decides it's time to stop hiding her feelings.





	Jet Set Run

**Author's Note:**

> Day 2 of Nuts and Dolts week! AU/Crushes time!  
> Inspired by the track "Jet Set Run" from My Hero Academia.

She was one of the cutest girls in school. Curly ginger hair, spring green eyes, lovely freckles. She was very athletic, had great grades, and always had a smile on her face. Everyone at Beacon knew her, everyone at Beacon was her friend. And everyone seemed to have a crush on her.

And Ruby was no exception.

Ever since freshman year, she wanted to tell Penny Polendina that she wanted to go out with her. But she could never bring herself to it. Every chance she had was interrupted by Penny's fellow club mates, or the bell would ring, or, more often than not, Ruby would get cold feet and run away. She was incredibly fast, so it made it easy to escape embarrassing situations.

But now, as they were preparing for spring sports their sophomore year, Ruby was starting to think it'd be best to move on.

_"Don't give up, sis!" her sister would cheer. "You can do it!"_

_"Just be honest," her father would say._

_"You never know until you try," her uncle sighed._

_But how am I supposed to try if I can't even get close to her?_

Ruby tried everything she could think of to try and get close to Penny. If they had classes, she tried to ask for help whether she needed it or not. If Penny was alone at lunch, she'd try to join her. If Penny was in the library, she'd try to find out what books she was reading. If things were quiet enough in class, she'd try to pass a note.

None of these plans worked. Someone always came along and interrupted her attempts. Nora asked for help in class first, Ciel would come sit with her at lunch, and Ren and Neptune always managed to be on either side of her in the library. Notes were confiscated and put in Oobleck's drawer until after school. A month of attempts and still no chance of getting closer to Penny Polendina.

Ruby was starting to think that it wasn't meant to be.

So she continued on with her classes as is. She decided to stop pursuing Penny for the time being. Perhaps things will naturally fall into place and she'll be able to talk to her one on one. The chances of that were slim to none, but Ruby was going to wait and see. There wasn't really much else she could do.

It wasn't until a week after deciding to give up that fate played the cruelest of jokes.

**_"Hello Ruby. Would you like to join the track team?"_ **

Ruby had been sitting alone at lunch that day. She was just about to bite into the sub sandwich her dad had packed for her when the cheery voice of Penny rang in her ears. She was frozen mid-bite when she saw her take a seat across from her, a clipboard in hand and a smile on her face. Her usual pink bow had been traded out for a ranger green one that was standard for sports teams.

"What was that?" Ruby asked, mouth full of bread.

"We're looking for people to join the track team," Penny explained. "We don't have enough people signed up for tryouts, and if we can't put together a small team we'll be disbanded. I heard from some of the other students you were a pretty fast runner. I was wondering if you'd want to join?"

Ruby set her food down, her face red with embarrassment. "I-I dunno. Are you on the team?"

"Yep! I'm team captain! Or at least, I am as long as we're around." She held out the clipboard to her, a bright smile on her face. "Would you like to come to tryouts?"

Ruby looked over the list of names, feeling her heat sink. She noticed a few names on there of some pretty fast runners. Particularly Mercury, the fastest kid in school and known admirer of Penny. If Ruby was to join and both of them made the team, there'd be no way that she'd be able to get close to her.

_"You never know until you try."_

Ruby didn't know why, but her uncle's words seemed to echo in her ears as she took the pen and signed her name.

There was no shame in at least trying.

"Okay," she said. "I'll try."

"Sen-Sational!" Penny cheered. "Tryouts are next Monday. I'll see you then. By Ruby!"

"See you later, Penny!" Ruby watched as Penny hurried off to the other tables, asking other students to sign up.

**_"Amazing, isn't she?"_ **

"Yeah," Ruby sighed, only to double take and see Mercury sitting beside her. "Mercury?!"

"You really like her, huh?" Mercury chuckled. "You planning on asking her out?"

"N-no. I just want to hang out with her as friends and stuff, you know? She's really cool and I admire her and-"

"I see." A sickening smirk crossed his face. "Too chicken?"

Ruby stuck out a her tongue at him before returning to her lunch. "I haven't got time to listen to your jabs."

Mercury simply shrugged, standing up slowly. "Fine. I guess once I make the team, I'll be free to ask her out myself."

"No!" Ruby's hands flew to her mouth and she felt her ears burn. She didn't mean to blurt that out.

"No?" he asked. "And why not?"

"Because, uh," Ruby stammered. "B-because I uh, well, um-"

"Look Ruby," Mercury said bluntly. "I really like Penny, but I know you do too so don't try to hide it. Here's the rundown; I'm going to ask her out after tryouts on Monday. If you don't want me to, then do something about it and ask her out yourself before then. Alright? I'm not going to wait around thinking of maybes. And you shouldn't either."

Without another word, Mercury turned and walked away, leaving Ruby to sit alone once again with her thoughts. As much as she didn't want to admit it, he had a point. If she wanted to ask Penny out, she needed to come up with some kind of plan to talk to her before the end of tryouts.

_But how am I supposed to ask her out if I can't get a moment alone with her?_

Ruby finished her lunch just as the bell started to ring. She planned and thought and mulled over every possible scenario to get Penny alone. But none of them seemed to work. There was no chance at talking one on one with her.

And that thought made her feel even worse.

_I guess the only thing left is to make a fool of myself. This is gonna suck._

 

* * *

 

 

On the day of the track meet, everyone who had signed up for the events had arrived. Students who weren't wanting to participate sat in the bleachers, watching with anticipation. Ruby felt her insides flipping and flopping as she watched various students attempt different activities. Nora was an ace at the hammer throw, and Pyrrha was outdoing everyone at the javelin. Yang overdid it on the shot-put, but it was still impressive. And everyone else was having fun with the jumps.

Ruby had decided to stay with just the running events. Mostly the sprints and the long run. Because of the weather possibly turning sour, they kept it a little shorter than usual just to see how everyone handled it. Just a single lap around the track. Everyone was given their starting points, with Mercury and Ruby being near the back, and Penny stood on the soap box with the timer and whistle in hand.

_This is going to be so embarrassing,_ Ruby thought. But it was the only thing she could think of.

"On your marks!" Penny cried. "Get set!"

The whistle's shrill cry echoed across the field and everyone sprinted forward. Ruby's eyes widened as she dashed off ahead, keeping pace with Mercury as he laughed wildly. It didn't take them long to get near the front.

"So," he panted, "you ask her out yet?"

"No," Ruby stammered. "But I will today. You'll see."

"Don't see how. You're not going to be able to get to her before me. Can't ask her if you can't get a moment to chat with her."

**_"Shows what you know!"_ **

With a hard push, Ruby took the lead, rounding the corner in her lane and letting out a fierce roar of determination that turned everyone's attention toward her. She kept her eyes forward, ignoring all the staring and the shouts of her name. She knew everyone would be focused on her now, but that was fine.

_As long as she's watching._

The thuds of heavy footsteps began to catch up with her, and she knew that Mercury was starting to catch up to her. With his longer legs, he was sure to pass her. She took a deep breath and increased her pace. If she could just stay ahead of him long enough-

"Are you planning what I think you're planning?" he called after her. "Because I'm pretty sure it's not gonna work!"

_I don't care if it works or not! I just have to try it!_

The finish line began to come into view. Mercury got the upper hand and passed her as they rounded the final corner, but Ruby wasn't about to give in. With one last push, she sprinted as fast as she could. Her heart was pounding heavily in her ears, sweat was starting to form on her brow. Soon, the two of them were neck and neck. Mercury took the lead, then Ruby, then Mercury. Back and forth as the finish line came ever so closer.

And there waiting for them, her smile brighter than the morning sun, was the cheerful face of Penny.

_Now or never, Ruby!_

**_"Penny!"_ ** she screamed as she took the lead. ** _"Will you go out with me?!"_**

The sudden question caused Penny to blush, and Mercury nearly tripped over his own feet in shock. Ruby crossed the finish line first, falling forward as she tried to stop. She ended up with a nasty scrape on knee, but was otherwise unharmed.

_Besides,_ she thought, _I finally did it. I asked her out._

Penny hurried over to Ruby, helping her up and over to the bench while someone ran to grab the first aid kit. "That was an impressive run, Ruby."

"R-really?"

"Yes," Penny said. "And um...a very unexpected finish too."

"Oh," Ruby muttered. "Y-yeah, I suppose so."

Penny bit her lip, twirling her finger through her curls. "Um...there's a showing of the movie Dog Rain playing Friday night at the drive in...Do you wanna go?"

Ruby looked at her in surprise, but slowly began to smile. "I'd love to."

"Sen-Sational!"

Ruby and Penny shared a giggle as they tended to her knee. Mercury shot her a wink before following the other students to the locker rooms. Ruby wondered if he had planned this in any way. She pushed the thought aside. It didn't matter if he did or not.

She finally had a date with the girl of her dreams, and she was going to enjoy it.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed it!


End file.
